1.8 The Lovers That said, not all is bad in this week’s episode. As the big season finale, it’s a pretty fast-paced episode that features some very interesting action set pieces. Given that we know there’s a conspiracy in the works with Rome finding an alliance both with Urbino and with the blood enemy of the Medicis, Francesco Pazzi, it’s not a huge surprise that this particular situation would be the center of the season finale even though they only set up the conspiracy in the previous episode. It seems a bit strange that the show rushed the Pazzi Conspiracy so quickly, yet took the bulk of the season having Leonardo looking around for the secret of the Book of Leaves. The pacing seems off. Leonardo’s exploration of the world may take seasons to finish up as he looks for his long-lost mother, but you run through one of the more dramatic episodes in Florentine history in two hours of show? It seems a bit much. The whole back and forth with Lucrezia as Rome’s cat’s paw lasted longer than this, and that didn’t have nearly the potential for drama than the struggle between Medici and Pazzi for the soul and control of Florence. When the show tries to be an adventure, it seems to struggle. The script is just too scattered. There are some nice moments where the two concurrently-running story lines intertwine, but most of the time the show seems to leave one setting for the other just when the dramatic tension seems to be rising. When it works, it works well, but most of the time it’s just kind of a distraction, forcing the audience to figure out just who is doing what at what time, and how far along that particular thread of plot has gone. While this week’s episode was as consistently inconsistent as the rest of the season, there was a lot to like. After all, there were multiple sword-fights this week, and a pretty impressive image of two blood-splattered priests menacing innocent children with daggers. I can’t hate a show that’s so willing to dig into the sordid history of the Catholic Church and also add a new spin on the Dracula mythos at the same time. Read Ron’s review of the previous episode, The Hierophant, here. US Correspondent Ron Hogan will undoubtedly return for another dose of Da Vinci and Friends this time next year. Find more by Ron daily at Shaktronics and PopFi. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
